Speaker of Parliament and Jumhooree Party (JP) leader, Qasim Ibrahim, accused former President Mohamed Nasheed of conspiring within Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) to oust and replace President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.
Qasim, one of the leaders of the coalition government, made the allegations while strongly criticising Nasheed and MDP at JP's campaign hub late Wednesday. Without directly stating names, Qasim accused Nasheed of attempting to revert governance to a parliamentary system.
Qasim iterated he was closely watching the strife and hostility created within MDP, alleging that there was a great plot to impeach the president and overthrow the government.
Furthermore, Qasim expressed his discontent over MDP members campaigning for all constituencies in the upcoming parliamentary elections. He defended President Solih, proclaiming that the decision to contest for all of the seats was made during MDP's national congress, which Nasheed had attended.
Qasim declared that MDP's decision was in violation of the seat-sharing agreement within the coalition.
Moreover, in response to MDP's denial of the existence of such an agreement, Qasim stated that he might publish it, adding that he was refraining from do so until the "time is right" as it would be a "dirty tactic" to publicise it prematurely.
Qasim claimed he had all the signed documents, but did not want to expose the signatories.
Qasim further expressed solidarity with President Solih and pledged to preserve the administration despite dissent.
The JP leader declared that as long as President Solih did not make any unconstitutional demands, the party would cooperate.
Qasim also commented on the criticism levelled against him on social media, slamming him for not being able to work with three presidents to date,
In response, Qasim clarified that he had been unable to fulfil his term as Minister of Home Affairs during MDP's regime due to harassment, adding that Nasheed, who was president at the time, was well aware of the situation.
According to Qasim, he had separated from the ruling coalition during Nasheed's presidency, after JP was expelled from the alliance during an MDP National Congress.
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